What the world was like the last time ESPN College GameDay came to Vanderbilt

Fans in Nashville are pumped that the ESPN College GameDay crew is coming to hype up the clash between No. 10 Vanderbilt Commodores and No. 15 Missouri Tigers. ESPN's flagship college football show doesn't come to Vandy often, so fans want to make the most of it.

The last time College GameDay showed up in Nashville for a football game was on October 4, 2008, when No. 19 Vanderbilt met No. 12 Auburn at newly renovated Vanderbilt Stadium (now called FirstBank Stadium).

The head coach matchup for the game was Vanderbilt's James Franklin versus Auburn's Tommy Tuberville. The Commodores came out of the big game with a win, beating Auburn 14-13 behind the arm and legs of quarterback Mackenzi Adams.

A lot has changed in 17 years, both in college football and in the world at large. Here's a fun look back at what the world looked like the last time the ESPN trucks rolled into Nashville for a pregame show.

What was ESPN College GameDay like in 2008?

When College GameDay last came to Vanderbilt, the cast was comprised of host Chris Fowler, along with analysts Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit, and of course, the great Lee Corso. Contributors and reporters consisted of Gene Wojciechowski and Chris "Bear" Fallica (although Bear didn't start appearing on-screen until 2013).

The Celebrity Guest Picker was Tennessee's own Kenny Chesney, who went 3-1 in his picks, which included North Carolina over UConn, South Carolina over Ole Miss, Vanderbilt over Auburn, and -- the only pick he missed -- Nebraska over Missouri.

College Football was much different in 2008

While certain aspects of the sport weren't much different than they are today -- for instance, Texas, Alabama, Penn State, and Oklahoma were the top-ranked teams in early October that year -- much about the sport has shifted.

There were only 120 FBS schools as opposed to the 132 we have in 2025, and there were 11 different conferences -- ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference-USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-10, SEC, Sun Belt, WAC, and then a group of four independent teams (Army, Navy, Notre Dame, and Western Kentucky).

Only the ACC, Big 12, Conference-USA, MAC, and SEC had conference championship games. Every other conference simply crowned a regular season champ.

The coaches for this year's game were also in very different places. Eli Drinkwitz was an offensive coordinator at Springdale High School in Springdale, Ar., while Clark Lea was a defensive coach at South Dakota State.

Diego Pavia was just 7 years old.

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Other fun facts about October 2008.

• George W. Bush was nearing the end of his second term as President of the United States.
• The average price of gas in the United States was $3 per gallon.
• The top movie at the box office was Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
• The No. 1 single in the country was "Disturbia" by Rihanna.
• The No. 1 country song was "Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven" by Kenny Chesney.
• The Obama vs McCain presidential election campaign was in full swing, highlighted by Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impression on Saturday Night Live
• Beyoncé released "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," and amateur dance parodies became a viral trend on the internet.
• Britney Spears began her big comeback, while still-country Taylor Swift released her big hit "Love Story".
• Miley Cyrus celebrated her Sweet 16 at Disneyland, (even though her birthday isn't until November)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars made its debut on Cartoon Network.

One thing that hasn't changed is seeing fans amped up for a visit from College GameDay, and after 17 long years, it's certain that the Gold and Black legions of Vanderbilt fans will show the college football world that not everything in Tennessee has to be orange checkerboards.